


A Campfire Interlude

by Gemi



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Corvus POV, M/M, Post-Season/Series 02, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 07:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18220004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemi/pseuds/Gemi
Summary: Soren was scowling at the fire, looking bruised, armor scratched and slightly dented. Claudia was whispering to King Ezran, and the crackling of the fire sounded comforting with their giggles interrupting the otherwise silent evening.Corvus did not ask why her hair had strands of white in it.





	A Campfire Interlude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Prim_the_Amazing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prim_the_Amazing/gifts).



Corvus hadn’t thought he would see Viren’s children again.  
  
Their last meeting had been surrounded by fire; the dragon’s roar, the heavy beating of wings and air so harsh that they had almost been swept off the tower walls. Of a terrifying moment where he had thought Soren was about to cut his head off, only to instead be cut free from his restraints. Freed and ordered to serve the people, and Corvus hadn’t been able to say much else than a request for them to survive as thanks.  
  
He had heard that the dragon was killed from the soldiers who had helped lead the villagers back home. There had been details, bloodied but fascinating, with magical arrows involved. Soren and Claudia had both been mentioned, in excited gossip between the soldiers as they waited for the villagers to prepare themselves for the journey home.  
  
But Corvus had not truly thought that Soren and Claudia _survived_ the encounter. He had, somehow, imagined that they became martyrs. That they sacrificed themselves for a worthy cause.  
  
But Soren was scowling at the fire, looking bruised, armor scratched and slightly dented. Claudia was whispering to King Ezran, and the crackling of the fire sounded comforting with their giggles interrupting the otherwise silent evening. Corvus did not ask why her hair had strands of white in it; neither did Ezran, though he had seen the King’s eyes drift towards the brightness of it more than once.  
  
It hadn’t been _planned_ to meet the duo once more. Corvus would have avoided it, if he had been able to. But his skills could not withstand the little King’s strange quirks. They had been on the journey back home, Ezran explaining the reasoning for why Corvus had to run around with the King on his shoulders the night before.  
  
And then Ezran had turned his head and whistled, and mere moments later, there they had been. Herded by critters that scattered the moment they were out in the open.  
  
And now here they were.  
  
Corvus watched the group for a moment, and then he rose to his feet with a sigh.  
  
“I’ll see if I can find more food,” he said, and before Ezran could protest, he held up one hand and added on, “Berries and fruit, my King. It would be foolish to hunt in the dark, whether you would eat the meat or not.”  
  
“I’m _not_ eating just berries,” Soren scoffed, and Corvus raised a brow as the younger man rose to his feet. The armor, despite its scruffy appearance, didn’t make much sound at the movement. Still taken care of, then. “I’ll come with you. Maybe _I_ can catch a- a rabbit, or whatever is lurking in the dark.”  
  
Corvus highly doubted that, but he decided to withhold that remark. Soren had been… _jumpy_ , since they reunited. Still as oddly confident and stubborn, but decidedly more jumpy than before. Pointing out that if Corvus, a skilled tracker, would not be able to hunt in these conditions, then a crownsguard such as Soren would have little chance to do it himself.  
  
Those remarks could, perhaps, be saved for later.  
  
“Very well,” he agreed, and he gestured for Soren to follow.  
  
“Oooh, if you see any moths bigger than my hand, catch them! I need their guts!” Claudia called out, and Corvus held back a smile as Soren shuddered. The King looked rather grossed out as well, and swiftly pulled Claudia into a debate about worms.  
  
Corvus… did not believe he would _ever_ understand the new king.  
  
“I don’t even want to touch a moth,” Soren muttered under his breath, only audible to Corvus. Still, the tracker decided to keep silent as he led the soldier out into the woods.  
  
The spot for camping had been a good one, when it came to shelter. The trees and rocks of the area was good for protection against the wind, there was a cold stream nearby and signs of previous campers before. But as they walked in the dim light of the approaching night, Corvus realized it had one flaw.  
  
There were _very_ few fruit trees or berry bushes around.  
  
“Perhaps we should split up,” he suggested, although he wasn’t sure that Soren would find his way back if they did that. But if that were to happen, then at least Corvus could track the man down if needed.  
  
But Soren stopped so abruptly that Corvus came to a stop as well, puzzled by it. He looked over his shoulder and was met with a confused frown.  
  
“What?” he asked.  
  
“You’re seriously not worried Clauds and I will grab Ez again?” Soren asked. It came out much like a command, and Corvus blinked as the man continued, “Seriously, what if I were to grab a rock and knock you out again, huh? It would be easy! I wouldn’t need Claud’s weird… _stuff_ as help or anything! I can totally take you. I’m the youngest crownsguard in forever, I’m a real good fighter, don’t underestimate me, chain man!”  
  
Corvus blinked again.  
  
“... you make a point,” he allowed, slowly, because it felt like there was something he should avoid to step on. Problem was, of course, that Corvus was not sure _what_ that was. It was rather like expecting a little rabbit hunt, and stumbling into a flock of boar. Or perhaps a bear den. Something equally catastrophic. “But as I’m the only one with King Ezran, I don’t see a reason for why you two would _not_ have done so already.”  
  
It had been made clear, after all, that they _were_ superior to Corvus in such matters. He had attempted to escape twice, during his capture, and been caught both. If the two truly wished to kidnap King Ezran, then the logical approach would have been to attack Corvus upon their arrival.  
  
Soren’s frown remained. If anything, it grew sharper, a scowl of confused fury that nevertheless managed to keep Corvus from moving.  
  
And then Soren deflated, shoulders slumping. The soldier moved his hand from the hilt of his sword- Corvus had not even realized it had been _there_ \- and dragged his fingers through his pale flop of hair.  
  
“I could kill you _and_ Ez right now,” he muttered, and this time it was Corvus’ turn to frown.  
  
“You wouldn’t kill King Ezran,” he said.  
  
He had never truly met Soren or Claudia before this entire mess. There had been no reason to, and he had held no desire for such things. General Amaya had been the one to order him, for the rare times she required his services. He only knew of Viren due to the man’s status, and heard of the man’s children for similar reasons.  
  
But he knew enough that the duo had grown up around King Ezran, as well as Prince Callum. And while their attempts had been clearly misguided, Corvus felt safe in assuming the duo had never meant any _harm_.  
  
If possible, Soren deflated further.  
  
“You don’t know me,” he said, which made no sense, and even less so when Soren released a heavy sigh and continued, “but yeah, I can’t kill the kid. He’s a _kid_. I can’t- _urgh_. Shut up, traitor.”  
  
“We have _firmly_ established I’m not a traitor by now.”  
  
“Claudia hasn’t taken back her vote, so you’re still _totally_ a traitor to me,” Soren insisted, and Corvus decided that it was, perhaps, best to focus on finding food.  
  
They did eventually manage to find some milk fruit, as well as a good cluster of red berries. Not enough to keep them full by any means, but enough to keep the hunger at bay to avoid using up too many of their rations.  
  
King Ezran and Claudia were still by the fire when they returned. Corvus realized he had been tense, despite his words to Soren. But they were all accounted for- King Ezran was even drooling against Claudia’s arm, while the young woman was using her free hand to look through the thick tome she constantly carried around.  
  
“Did you find any guts?” she asked, in what was meant to be a whisper, but came out far too loud for that. Corvus shook his head.  
  
“I’m _never_ touching guts, especially not any bug ones,” Soren hissed back, just as loudly. King Ezran was clearly a heavy sleeper, as the boy continued to drool an impressive amount.  
  
“Wussy.”  
  
“Am _not_.”  
  
“I will take first watch,” Corvus decided.  
  
“Uh, no you won’t,” both siblings said in unison, which was actually rather impressive.  
  
“I’ll take first watch,” Soren decided, “I need no beauty sleep!”  
  
“You need all the beauty sleep you can _get_.”  
  
“Uh, no, that’s _you_ , Clauds.”  
  
“Please do not wake King Ezran,” Corvus said, and put their findings away into his bag, “I will gladly take first watch.”  
  
“We won’t kidnap him again, if that’s what you’re afraid of,” Claudia argued, closing her book with a thud. King Ezran remained asleep; Corvus wondered how often the boy had slept through such loud arguing, because the duo had definitely abandoned the concept of whispers several sentences ago.  
  
“I’m not,” he said, “but I know these woods better than both of you.”  
  
“Do we even _need_ a watch?” Soren asked, crossing his arms. “there’s like… _nothing_ around.”  
  
“Except beasts,” Claudia pointed out.  
  
“I’m not going to trust King Ezran’s safety to something as fickle as luck,” he argued as he sat down, opposite of the King, “I will take first watch. I do not think we need more than two who switch between them. Soren, would you be willing?”  
  
Whatever argument Soren clearly had geared up towards, promptly disappeared. Instead the young man puffed up, much like a proud bird. Claudia, by contrast, looked immensely offended.  
  
“What, I’m not good enough for keeping us safe?”  
  
“King Ezran told me you prefer to wake late. I thought, perhaps, this meant you will be more useful for daily dangers rather than nightly ones.”  
  
Claudia wrinkled her nose; Soren remained puffed up in what Corvus _assumed_ was pride. A smug kind. He spared a moment to be grateful he was an only child.  
  
“Your mumbo-jumbo takes too long to cast,” the other man decided with a nod, “if stuff happens, we need _speed_. Which means me! And traitor guy.”  
  
“He’s not a traitor anymore, _Soren_ ,” the woman huffed as she slid her tome back into her bag, “And I can be speedy!”  
  
“You can’t do _anything_ before your hot brown morning potion!”  
  
“I so can too!”  
  
“Either way,” Corvus cut in, because now King Ezran _did_ look disgruntled in his sleep, “that is for another day. Tonight, I suggest myself, followed by Soren. Tomorrow, perhaps we can switch it around?”  
  
“Urgh, _fine_.”  
  
“And he’s _still_ a traitor.”  
  
“I’m not,” Corvus sighed.  
  
“He’s not! I take back my vote.”  
  
“ _Claudia!_ ”  
  
Corvus and Claudia both hissed ‘ _shush’_ at Soren, right as King Ezran groaned in his sleep. Soren, thankfully, fell quiet. It did not stop him, nor Claudia, from gesturing angrily at each other far past the time they both should have spent sleeping.  
  
He would let it be; as long as they did not wake the King, they could gesture as much as they wished. And as long as it did not affect Soren’s ability to keep watch, of course.  
  
Time passed; Corvus watched as the fire grew smaller, and he listened to the sounds of soft breathing. Claudia was awkwardly slumped over King Ezran; and Ezran slept through it all. It was quite boring, actually, and Corvus was grateful when Soren woke and came closer to settle down next to Corvus, shoulders bumping awkwardly.  
  
“My turn,” the other man said. His voice was rough from sleep, briefly making him sound older than Corvus, before a slightly high pitched yawn escaped him. The kind which Corvus would sooner expect from a kitten. Perhaps a bunny. Or a mouse.  
  
“I’m surprised I didn’t have to wake you,” he admitted in a low voice, settling back against the tree he had used for support during the night. There was little reason to move, after all. Corvus slept comfortably no matter where he spent the night. Hopefully Claudia was the same, or she would have a painful time upon waking.  
  
Soren yawned again. His hair was a mess.  
  
“I can wake up whenever I want,” he muttered, “though I wouldn’t mind Clauds’ hot brown morning potion.”  
  
“Don’t take offense, but it does not sound appealing.”  
  
“Yeah, but it sure wakes one up.”  
  
Corvus tilted his head.  
  
“Do you need some now, before I go to sleep?”  
  
“No, I’m _fine_. I can do stuff. Claudia made sure of that, even though I would be a _great_ poetry guy,” Soren muttered, which made little sense. Still, Corvus hummed in agreement. He closed his eyes and forced his breathing to slow. Soren’s presence was heavy next to him, but in an oddly comforting way. He smelled of leather and polishing oil, and something that made him think of warm things. It was a scent that felt safe enough to make Corvus fell asleep before he knew it.  
  
He woke to rambling.  
  
King Ezran’s rambling, to be specific. Corvus kept his eyes closed a moment longer as he listened, as he breathed in the air. There was the scent of meat cooking, and he felt tiny hands shove something into one of his hands. A milk fruit, he guessed from the shape of it.  
  
“But _how_ did you get the white? It looks really nice!”  
  
“Dark magic, of course! And doesn’t it? Maybe it will become the new fashion when we come home.”  
  
“Dark magic did _that_ to your hair?” Ezran gasped, and Corvus slowly opened his eyes. Ezran was sitting next to him, chewing noisily on his own milk fruit. Fish were cooking over the fire, and _that_ made him sit up straighter as he began to figure out how long he had slept. The movement had King Ezran beam in delight, and Corvus grunted as the King’s elbow nailed him in the gut. “Corvus! Good morning, do you want some fish?”  
  
He grunted and sat up a bit straighter, gently moving the King’s elbow away from him.  
  
“Thank you, my King. Yes, that would be nice…” he trailed off. Claudia was there, poking the fish with a stick. She looked paler than last night, but perhaps that was a trick of the light. More importantly, _Soren_ was nowhere to be seen.  
  
“Where is your brother?” he asked, and forced himself to stand. Ezran stayed where he was, cheeks bulging as he stuffed himself full with fruit. Did the little King not like fish, either? For some reason, Corvus had assumed fish would be acceptable.  
  
“Hm? Oh, Sor-bear is off, doing. You _know_ ,” Claudia laughed, “number one, number two, one of those! You think these are done yet? They _look_ crispy.”  
  
“They are likely done.”  
  
Perhap _over_ done, if he judged by how black the scales had become.  
  
“Only one way to find out,” Claudia said, and began to pull the fish off of their sticks. Corvus accepted his, and he pulled out a knife to scrape the worst of the scales off. When Ezran also accepted one- which implied the boy was growing, rather than a hatred for all kinds of meat- Corvus had them switch, so that the King would get the unscaled fish.  
  
“What was this about dark magic?”  
  
“Hm? Oh,” Claudia giggled, and she reached up to tug on her white locks of hair. It was a sharp contrast against all the black in her general appearance. “Well, I had to use a few things to get Soren moving again, and stuff. Ezran was nice enough to show me where I could find milk fruit and _ta-da!_ But it was _a lot_ of magic, and I guess my hair had to, like, show off how cool I was for it.”  
  
Corvus paused in eating.  
  
“Soren?” he asked.  
  
“Yeah,” said man’s voice interrupted, and Corvus glanced behind him where the much more put together soldier stood- he had been using his time away to fix his hair, it seemed, and possibly wash his face. There were drops of water clinging to his chin. “The stupid dragon escaped- _with help_.” Soren glared daggers at King Ezran.  
  
“It was wrong to attack her,” Ezran muttered, taking an extra large bite, as if to stuff himself full to avoid speaking.  
  
“She attacked a _village_ , Ez. Your subjects, _King_. Whatever- _it_ escaped, I maybe got a _tiny_ bit hurt, and Clauds fixed it with her mumbo-jumbo things.”  
  
“Dark magic is _awesome_ ,” Claudia said, and Soren grimaced. There was _something_ in the air between them, a strange tension, but Corvus couldn’t help but wonder just how large damage it had to be. To make Claudia’s hair gain white, and for someone as proud as Soren to even admit to any kind of injury. The armor _was_ dented in odd places, which Corvus had been willing to overlook before. But…  
  
Soren clearly didn’t wish to talk more about it. Still, Corvus met his eyes and offered a small smile.  
  
“I’m glad you’re feeling better then, Soren,” he said. To his amazement, Soren’s cheeks gained a tinge of pink.  
  
“Yeah, well, not even dragons can keep the youngest crownsguard in history down for _long_ ,” he said, and took a big bite out of his fish. Without scraping off the scales. Corvus looked away to avoid laughing, and to perhaps think.  
  
He… wasn’t _oblivious_ , to things. He was not good at them, of course, and he may very well be reading into it too much. But there was no reason for Soren to react in such a manner, considering their past history. No reason to blush, and to sit a little closer than before as he gagged and spat out fish scales.  
  
Corvus shook his head, shook the _idea_ out of it, and handed over his knife.  
  
“Thanks,” Soren said, and then hesitated, their fingers brushing as Soren lingered, “Uh, also I’m glad you got out, too. You know, from the burning village.”  
  
“It was thanks to you,” Corvus replied, “but... thank you.”  
  
Soren grinned; it was half a smile, oddly awkward but endearing. The hint of pink grew stronger. The man had _dimples._ Corvus blinked.  
  
Perhaps there was a reason he was reading into it too much, he thought, faintly and slightly embarrassed and dazed.  
  
Soren _was_ very pretty. And kind, despite his rough attitude.  
  
Corvus numbly let Soren take the knife from him.  
  
Perhaps, just maybe, Corvus was in trouble.  
  
Trouble he didn’t particularly want to get out of.


End file.
